Dream Job: The Army

I really didn’t know what I really wanted to do when I graduated and it never crossed my mind until my senior year. It wasn’t up until like October of 2018 when a Army recruiter and talked to us in Mr. Pierson’s economics class. And usually when a Army recruiter comes and talks to us I usually never pay attention. But this time it was a different vibe with Sergeant William T. Harris. He know how to keep our attention, so that’s what I did. He was talking about all the benefits The Army could give. It offers health and dental benefits, vacation time, family services, special pay for special duties, cash allowances to cover the cost of living and money to repay your college loans and so much more. I put a lot of thought into and I finally decided that I wanted to join The Army. But it wasn’t only because it could pay for my college, it also had to do with patriotism. I feel like the United States has done so much for me that I can never repay it. Giving me freedom, rights, and help me find happiness. So I thought the Army was the best way to repay what the country has given me.

And I looked at a brochure and did some digging and I found what job I wanted to do in the Army Infantry: The infantry is the main land combat force and backbone of the Army. They are responsible for defending our country against any threat by land, as well as capturing, destroying and repelling enemy ground forces. And I know the risk of being a Infantry man. I could potentially be Killing in action and to be honest I’m not really scared of dying. But before I can even think of enlisting in the Army I need to make sure I qualify for the Army. You can check if your pre-qualify for the army on the GoArmy website. It will ask you basic questions that you need to answer to see if you can enlist. You also need to go to a doctor to make sure that you are healthy and you can’t have any felonies or else they won’t let you enlist. And once the you get checked off and they let you enlist there is still lots you have to do before you get into “action”.

When you get shipped out to wherever location they send you, you have to go through Basic Training: the initial period of training for new personnel, involving intense physical activity and behavioral discipline. You’ll spend the “best” nine weeks of your life learning what it means to be a soldier in the US Army. Lots of people say you mentality will be entirely different. Apparently your mind will be sharper, you’ll be in the best shape you have ever been in your entire life and you will be confident than you ever have before. When you arrive at Boot Camp you’ll be issued your personal gear and uniform items. Then you will turn in all of your personal “contraband items”. Then you will be assigned to barracks where you will be staying for the next 9 weeks AKA your new home.

Also there will be Drill Sergeants that will scream in your face because that’s their jobs; to make you as tough as you can possibly be. Your days in Basic Training are very repetitive. You begin bright and early at around 0500 and quickly make your bed, tidy up your personal area, brush your teeth, shave, and other personal hygiene. The Army is extremely strict on your personal hygiene. In order for you to pass Basic Training you have to complete 3 test and pass them. For men ages 17 to 21, that means performing at least 35 push-ups and 47 sit-ups, as well as running two miles in no more than 16 minutes and 36 seconds. And if you don’t make any of these 3 challenges then you were simply processed out. And there is no shame in that. The military isn’t meant for anyone and all that matters is that you tried your best and you now know what you are capable of. And you can always try again until you succeed. After boot camp you will will do more training. You will have to do Infantry One Station Unit Training (OSUT).

Initial Training in this MOS is primarily conducted through one station unit training , which combines basic training and job training into one single course of instruction. OSUT for 11B, Infantryman is 13 weeks, 3 days at Fort Benning. After all that training, you will be stationed somewhere. There is a thing called a deployment phase where the physical movement of individuals and units from their home installation to the designated theater of operations. People say that this phase can be very stressful for service members because that means service members and their families have to face the realities of a deployment and what that means for them. Usually deployment means that they will have military duties in support of a mission overseas or within the United States.

Typically US Army deployments to conflict zones (Afghan, Korea, Bosnia, etc.) are one year, but the range is usually between 6 months or little over a year. But about 80% of the jobs in the military are non-combat occupations. But since I’m going for infantry man I will probably see combat. As of December 2011, roughly 73 percent of active component soldiers had deployed to Iraq and/or Afghanistan. And i’ve told people that I wanted to do infantryman and all they do is make fun of me saying, “You realize that the military isn’t like call of duty?”. And everytime they say that it used to make me mad and bring me down. But now when people tell me that all it does is just motivate me even more into joining The Army. And the reason why it motivates me now is because of The Army recruiter. When I was talking to him at the college fair he told me that he was just like me but he found his motivation and I thought that was the most inspiring thing ever. It made me realize that I should never give up on something I really want to do.

So when I did my research on the Army I saw that only 136,000 out of 33 million young Americans will join the army. And that is such a low number. People should really take into consideration that the Army can do so much for you and that there is a whole bunch of jobs in the Army. Most people think, “Oh I’m not trying to get shot and die”. When in reality it all depends what you want to do in the Army. You can be a engineer, doctor, aircraft technician and so much more.

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